Takayama Ai

"Team A's Captain, I am Takahashi Minami the 7th, also known as Takamina."

- Minami's Stage Introduction Catchphrase

Ai Takayama is the Captain of Team A. She is currently a successor, having received the name Takahashi Minami the 7th (７ みなみ). She does also have a soloist career.

Currently, the nickname she is most commonly associated with is Takamina (たかみな), however, prior to succession, she was also referred to as TakAi (TakAi) or Aicchi (あいっち).

Appearance
Minami considers herself as fairly normal-looking. She is of average stature, albeit perhaps a bit on the shorter side of 'average'. She has straight, blue hair that reaches a little past her shoulderblades when let down, even if she normally has it in a ponytail. She has heartshaped lining in her hair and eyes, in which there are also three extra lines that connect to a point.

Before she succeeeded, Takamina's hair roughly reached to her shoulders, aside of two longer strands that hung down over her shoulders. The short hairstyle meant that she also couldn't do a lot of elaborate hairstyles with it, so it was generally left down. After she succeeded, however, she has taken more to keeping her hair back in a ponytail, something she could only do with extensions before, as she had decided to grow her hair a bit.

While Takamina doesn't neccesarily follow any specific fashion trends, she doesn't have a bad eye for coordination either. She prefers clothes that are within the modern/modest range, but isn't restricted to that in her choices. Being comfortable in the clothes she wears is more often than not the deciding factor when she's shopping for clothes. She tends to stick to two to three colours in her clothes, and has found a certain affinity for pastels. Ever since she succeeded, her ribbon collection has grown extensively, and she is rarely seen without one in her hair.

Personality
Minami is a caring person, even if that may not be the first thing people notice when they first meet her. While working, she likes to keep a certain level of professionalism, and prides herself on her ability to keep a cool head in tense situations. She has worked hard on keeping aware of her surroundings in new places, and rarely does not know where to go should things take a turn for the worse.

With people she is close to though, she enjoys acting more freely and isn't a stranger to playful teasing (both of her and of others). Initially, she didn't really care much for being teased, but over time, she has realized that it isn't that bad - the members who do it never do it in a meanspirited way - so now, when she's being teased, her reactions are more for the sake that that's what others want, and not that she necessarily gets defensive.

In all aspects of her life, Minami is determined and hardworking, and this is also the basis for her self-confidence. She knows that nothing is for free, but nothing she wants is unachieavable either. If she works hard enough she can achieve her goals.

She also has a very strong moral compass. Even if she doesn't always voice it, she knows what, to her, is right, and what is wrong, and can, at times get a bit stubborn whenever these morals are questioned by others.

Initially, Minami was not as well versed when it came to handling a crowd, looking out for and dealing with conflict in a group and knowing how to best deal with others' negative emotions, and while she doesn't consider herself to be a master by any means and that she's still has a lot to learn, ever since she was appointed as Team A's captain upon its formation, Minami has found it to be something she actively focuses on to improve. She feels a sense of responsibility to her members - both individually and as a team - and doesn't want to let them down. She knows that she's not infallible and that she does make mistakes sometimes, but works towards that being as rare an occurrence as she can manage. Her help isn't necessarily entirely noticed all the time however. She has been known to help out WMiya's victims in secret, either by subtly distracting the two pranksters or subtly offer a way out or another, and even if she's not actively helping out, she doesn't want to come across as overbearing, she is almost always actively keeping a look out if she needs to intervene.

Skills
If asked what she'd consider her greatest asset as an idol, Takamina would answer that it's her ability to organize her time, and it is also something she is actively working to improve on. Due to that, she has gotten good at memorizing choreography and lyrics effectively, and rarely has moments where she doesn't have anything to do.

As an idol, she has also learnt to talk to people and infront of crowds. She did initially have a bit of stage fright, but due to experience, she's just as happy on stage as off stage. As Team A's captain, she's also developed leader skills.

Takamina is capable at self defense. Albeit her first bout with it was during the second round of her auditions, since then, she's regularly worked to improve, and is currently an able fighter. She is a decent LAS pilot, despite initially having troubles with it, she has gotten the hang of it. Her real forte is mic-sabers. Due to safety reasons, the management doesn't allow anyone to use more than one micsaber unless their swordmanship has developed far enough to allow that, and Minami has passed the test for it. She is able to dualwield with ease, and does always have an extra micsaber or two strapped to her leg underneath the uniform during performances.

Being born and bred on Atamistar, being able to swim is mandatory, and Minami is no exception. She has been swimming since she was a young child, and is now at a point where she has stated that she can swim as far as 10km straight if she is careful with her strength, but she is also good at swimming shorter distances at higher speeds. She does continue to swim as much as her schedule allows, and the pool is a rather safe bet to find her if she has the day off. She has no problems being comfortable in any body of water, and is capable of reading underwater currents in order to avoid getting caught in one. She is also able to hold her breath for a long while, as well as tow others back to shore.

To the point of it becoming a running joke, Minami is horrible at cooking. She's so uncoordinated in the kitchen that some members have claimed that it's basically an art at this point. AKBing00! exploits this frequently, whether it's to make fun of her inability in the kitchen, or as part of a muchaburi. Personally, she considers herself as a decent cook, and has no troubles eating whatever she's made, but this is, in general due to the fact that she has rather odd tastebuds; She can happily eat some things that others would never put anywhere near their mouth.

As a hobby, she has played piano when she was younger, and is still on an amateur level. She doesn't have as much time for it recently, but this is the reason she got to play a Keytar on Orchestra.

Early life
Minami was born, and grew up on Atamistar, where she lived with her family consisting of her mother and father, and her younger sister, Ameko. Other than normal child plights, Takamina never experienced any real heartache in her life. Her family was loving, she had friends, and it was in general a really carefree childhood.

When her sister came into the picture, Minami was 6 years old. Despite the age gap, the two got along great, spending a lot of time playing together. The age gap is also one of the reasons they never fought a lot when they were younger. Ameko was the one of the two siblings who first became entranced with idols, and as a consequence, forced Minami to dessup together and play pretend as idols. Minami never really cared for it all that much, but went along with it in order to entertain her younger sister. Similarly, the thought of actually becoming an idol never really occured to her.

Minami has been aware of AKB0048 and idols for about as long as she can remember. The group has always been pretty active on Atamistar, whether it'd be for photo shoots or for concerts, but Minami never really paid much attention to them. She was content listening to a song every now and again and being a very casual fan.

Being born on Atamistar, the beach will always be special to Minami, it being where she can be the most at ease. She also got to meet several of AKB0048's members before she herself became a member, due to the gravure shots being held at Atamistar from time to time. However, despite this, she didn’t feel like joining AKB0048 for the largest part of her child hood. Minami has known about AKB0048 all her life, but for the majority of it, she was content with merely being a fan to support the group. This, however, changed at the age of 12 years, when she saw her first ever concert live. When she spoke with her family about it, they were very supportive and encouraged her to try to join, even if they were also a little bit concerned, seeing how the idol group hadn’t been very successful for the past couple years. She used the remaining time until the auditions opened to practise her singing and dancing, and although she wasn’t perfect by any means, she was accepted into the group, and honestly hasn't looked back since.

Succession
Minami got the fever of succession a couple days before her succession was announced. On the contrary to some other members, Takamina did not have an agressive fever. She mainly felt a bit sluggish and had a slight fever, and this meant that she was still able to partake in her normal activities.

She was one of the members whose succession was the most wanted by some members, there even being a campaign, "#AiForTakamina" (which Sasshi even added onto the large screen on the succession concert itself), created by some of them. Fans caught onto this as well, and many decided to join the campaign. Her succession concert was named “Ai wo Shinjiteru” as a nod to her own name, her part in Sore wa Yorokobi Desu, as well as the pun in general.

Team History
150th Generation → Team 00 & 150th Generation → Team A & 150th Generation → Team A
 * Joined the 150th Generation of Trainees (SC0122.11.18)
 * Promoted to Team 00  (Formation) (SC0123.06.17)
 * Transferred to Team A   (Formation) (SC0123.10.31)
 * Succeeded and subsequently left the 150th Generation of Kenkyuusei (SC0124.02.03)

Etymology
Takayama is written in Kanji. ('Taka') translates to “High” and ('Yama') translates to “Mountain”.

Ai is written in Kanji.

('Ai') translates to “Love”.

Her name could be translated as "Alpine Love".

During her time as an idol, Minami has recieved several nicknames, with the most promintent ones from her understudy time being TakAi (TakAi) or Aicchi (あいっち), TakAi being a combination of "Takayama" and "Ai" and Aicchi being a variation on her name. Honoka called her Airicchi, a variation on her other nickname.

Upon succession, she inherited the nickname Takamina (たかみな) along with her new name. At times, some members refer to her as Captain, a nickname she can't fault them for, but isn't entirely comfortable with.

Quotes
Hint: Hover over the quotes.
 * "Team A’s Captain, I am Takahashi Minami the 7th, also known as Takamina." - Minami's onstage catchphrase
 * "Doing my best even if I fail, I will always look towards the future with a smile, I'm Takayama Ai, understudy of AKB0048's 150th generation!" - Ai's former onstage catchphrase
 * "I'm no witch, if that's what you're implying." - Minami, as Ai, replying to a comment Miyagi made.

Screenshots
For other pictures, please see Minami's Category

Achievements
Senbatsu Sousenkyo SC0123
 * -|Senbatsu Sousenkyo=

Early Result: 2nd (791'748 votes)

Placement: 2nd (Senbatsu) (1'200'849 votes)

Senbatsu Sousenkyo SC0124

Early Result: 1st (1'173'412 votes)

Placement: 2nd (Senbatsu) (2'095'875 votes)

Senbatsu Sousenkyo SC0125

Early Result: 5th (1'049'992 votes)

Placement: 1st (Center) (8'442'411 votes)

Senbatsu Sousenkyo SC0126

Early Result: 4th (14'583'920)

Placement: 2nd (Senbatsu) (32'432'728 votes) Janken Taikai SC0123
 * -|Jyanken Taikai=

Placement - 1st (Center)

Janken Taikai SC0125

Placement - 10th - Lost to Asami Mirai (Senbatsu)

Janken Taikai SC0126

Placement - 10th - Lost to Hirate Yurina the 9th (Senbatsu)
 * -|Lucky Ranking=
 * SC0125 - #43

Career

 * -|Acting=
 * Majisuka Gakuen 00 - Love
 * Protocol Magi :ORIGIN - Nakajima Shiori / Aubade
 * Prototype - Kaneki Alice

Songs
{{#tag:tabber| AKB0048 Singles= {|
 * -|A-Sides=
 * -|B-Sides=
 * valign="top" |
 * To Say (Kono atarashii hi ni) - Echo
 * Sakura no Hanabiratachi (Kono atarashii hi ni) - Center
 * Ai-sen (Bonfire Love Story) - Duet
 * Pioneer (Bonfire Love Story) - WCenter
 * Naze? (Kibou no Chronicle)
 * Manatsu no Sounds Good! (Kibou no Chronicle) - Center
 * Anata no Sakuhin (Kibou no Chronicle) - Center
 * Datenshi (Kibou no Chronicle) - WCenter
 * Shiritai (Kibou no Chronicle) - WCenter
 * Musou-ka (Kibou no Chronicle)
 * Ikiru Chance (KISEKI)
 * Ame ga Shuryo (KISEKI)
 * TBA (KISEKI)
 * Fresh Fruit Basket (KISEKI)
 * Tameiki (Kyuuseishu) - WCenter
 * Flare (Kyuuseishu)
 * Lyrical Namida (Kyuuseishu)
 * Kashou hyouka (Kyuuseishu)
 * Yuuhi wo miteiru ka? (Kyuuseishu) - WCenter
 * Close your eyes (Himitsu no Challenge) - Center
 * Roze (Himitsu no Challenge) - WCenter
 * Crush (Himitsu no Challenge) - Center
 * Heart Revolution (Reality)
 * Romance, Irane (Reality)
 * Kiite Imasen (Reality) - TriCenter
 * Kashita (Reality)
 * Ocean Song (Infinity no Moyou)
 * Spoiler (Infinity no Moyou) - WCenter
 * Silence (Infinity no Moyou)
 * Bracelet (Infinity no Moyou)
 * Mainichi no Koto (Infinity no Moyou)
 * Ghost house (Infinity no Moyou)
 * Tsugi no Crown (Infinity no Moyou)
 * Seimei no Konseki (Castle of Glass)
 * Ikiru Mono no Ishi (Castle of Glass)
 * Mokugekisha (Castle of Glass) - WCenter
 * Mirai ga Me ni Shimiru (Castle of Glass)
 * Requiem (Castle of Glass)
 * valign=”top” |
 * Kimi ga Aishiteru nara... (Castle of Glass)
 * Mangekyou no Unmei no Sanjuunichi (Castle of Glass)
 * Ashita he no Hansou (Rose no Hibi)
 * Au Revoir (Rose no Hibi)
 * Ashita he no Hansou (Rose no Hibi)
 * Seishun no Kaze (Rose no Hibi)
 * Yume no Ressha (Rose no Hibi)
 * Lignum Vitae (Asphodel no Sekai) - WCenter
 * Renegade Nante Naritakunai (Asphodel no Sekai)
 * AMA - Nandemo shitsumon sureba ii (Asphodel no Sekai)
 * Natsumeku no Shiawase (Asphodel no Sekai)
 * Kodoku na Palace (Asphodel no Sekai)
 * Hiru ga Yoru ni Tsudzuku (Asphodel no Sekai)
 * Jihakuzai (Kinou no Teki wa Mirai no Nakama)
 * Seifuku wo Kita Hannin (Kinou no Teki wa Mirai no Nakama)
 * Melting (Kinou no Teki wa Mirai no Nakama)
 * Fallout (Masshiro na Mirai wo Irodzukeru)
 * C'est la vie - Hakuna Matata (Masshiro na Mirai wo Irodzukeru)
 * Kimi he no One Way Ticket (Masshiro na Mirai wo Irodzukeru)
 * Kokoro no Naka no Keshiki (Masshiro na Mirai wo Irodzukeru)
 * Matchmaker (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Hiretsuna (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Kowareta Stigma (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Fuson wa Nandakke? (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Bona Fide (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Hitotsu Hitotsu Negai (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Oto ga Umareru (Kaetai Mirai)
 * Monochrome world (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)
 * MECHANICAL HEART (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)
 * Don't cry (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)
 * Mugen no Borderline (Sekiranun no Geijutsu) - Center
 * River of Time (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)
 * Ima Koko de Iru (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)
 * Kowase no Kokoro (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)
 * Fate (Sekiranun no Geijutsu)

{{!}}-{{!}} AKB0048 Albums= {{!}}-{{!}} Solo Singles= {{!}}-{{!}} Stages= 001 (Eien ni Umarekawaru)
 * Orchestra (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Cinderella wa doko ni itta? (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Nichiyobi no Cooking Show (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru) - Center
 * Siren (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * fashion police (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Hitori Omou (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Sora wa kasute aokatta (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * In Rain (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Love You! 0 (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * Yume no Sketchbook (Setsuzoku no Chain wa sudeni Koko ni Aru)
 * -|A-sides=
 * Yanagi no Negai
 * Ame no Warau (ft. Maeda Atsuko the 19th)
 * -|B-sides=
 * Ashita e no Akogare (Yanagi no Negai)
 * Ame no Emoji (Yanagi no Negai)
 * Kirakira BLACKOUT (Yanagi no Negai)
 * Nusuma reta no Hokori (Yanagi no Negai)
 * Monohoshisouna Guuzen (Yanagi no Negai)
 * Ame no Warau (Ame no Warau)
 * precious (Ame no Warau)

Nichiyobi no Cooking Show - Center

A1 (Eien ni Umarekawaru)

Nichiyobi no Cooking Show - Center A2 (Tomorrow never dies) {{!}}-{{!}} Other Songs= }}
 * SUB ZERO (Kono atarashii hi ni) - Character Song
 * Ji to Sora no aida (Futari no Ashiato)
 * Assemble
 * You are You
 * Ano Sora no Shita (Kakkoii & Kawaii)

Trivia

 * Favourite New Era Song: Roze
 * Audition Song: Yuuhi wo miteiru ka?
 * Favourite Colour: Royal Purple
 * Penlight Colour: White
 * Hobbies: Playing the piano, collecting swimwear, swimming, listening to music
 * Favourite Food: Generally anything her mother makes, Apples, Mochi Ice Cream
 * Favourite Animal: Owls
 * Charm Point: Eyes
 * Blood Type: A
 * Her Kirara is a blue sphere with detached wings and purple eyes.
 * She is a semi-proficcient piano player.
 * Her sense of taste, according to Hirate Yurina, is too screwed up to be natural.
 * Despite being from Atamistar, she is rather pale.
 * She has a rather abundant closet of bikinis, as she enjoys collecting them.
 * She is closely associated with the phrase "Ai wo Shinjiteru" as a pun to her own name and status as a Captain, so much so that her succession concert was named after it.
 * She is one of two Team A members to appear in Running Blind's MV.
 * In the Running Blind PV, her character's name is "AiWoShinjinai", as a reference to "Ai wo Shinjiteru".
 * In the Majisuka Gakuen 00 adaption, Minami plays the character "Love", whose name is a pun to her own
 * Minami shares her original given name with the fake AKB member Kimura Ai.
 * For the release of Kibou no Chronicle, she got hair extentions.
 * Coincidentally, she had her hair in a ponytail, a hairstyle that came to be her most common one after succession.
 * Minami has stated that she does not have a favourite member in 00, as she doesn't feel like she, as captain for  a team should be favorising.
 * It is unknown if she in fact does have a favourite member and is simply keeping it a secret, or if she actually doesn't have a favourite.
 * She is a bit upset that the rest of the 150th generation doesn't get more recognition, something she believes they deserve.